Music | Singles Revue: Dominique's guilty treasures of 2008.

The rise of Netflix and MP3 downloads gave me a reckless sense of power. In 2008, I downloaded music and rented movies I had no business in hearing/seeing but that I heard/saw simply because I could. I developed a shameful music catalog so vast I was forced to create a folder named “Guilty Treasures.” I figure that, in order to nip this monster before it grows too big, I will publicly shame myself by revealing what I should have not been enjoying this year in hopes that the humiliation will force my taste in music and film will grow more refined in 2009.

n

My crimes and misdemeanors are as follows:

n

I fell fast and hard for Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” and, later, Lily Allen’s cover of the “comeback” track. I even watched Spears’ documentary. Maybe I cried, maybe I didn’t.

n

As much as Katy Perry made me question humanity with her craptastic hits, I inadvertently developed a taste for “Hot N’ Cold,” occasionally singing it in the shower, the car, whenever my roommates were gone.

n

On the rare occasion that it aired music videos, MTV seduced me into thinking “Gives You Hell” by All-American Rejects was catchy. The first taste is free.

n

I eventually gravitated toward crunk and could not stop listening to “Back That Azz Up.” I backed it up in my room, in the shower, the car. I backed it up to “Baby I Got Your Money” by ODB, throwing my hands up in the air. I went off the chain to “Party Up” by DMX and “Pull Over” by Trick Daddy.

n

Considering the stacks of music-snob-approved records located just feet away from my bedroom, all these Guilty Treasures should never have taken hold. But they did. They took hold so hard.

n

I resolve to still have fun with my music, but to remember where my heart lies—to remember bands like Wilco and Dios Malos who are both pleasurable and timeless. I resolve to take the time to unearth the quality music buried in the living room. I will save face when someone asks what I’ve been listening to lately.